Danzo said coldly: "I just want to know if this matter has anything to do with Funan."
Hiruzen said without hesitation: "Absolutely!"
"Hiruzen, we can't go on like this!" Danzo growled. "Look, we've lost hundreds of shinobi again. Uchiha Funan's intention is very clear. He wants to consume our strength bit by bit."
"I know!" Hiruzen's expression gradually became ferocious, and he said: "If so, we must have no mercy."
"What are you going to do?" Danzo, excited, asked: "Kill Uchiha Funan, destroy the Uchiha clan, eliminate Torifu and regain control?"
Hiruzen choked on the smoke and almost burst into tears. He looked at Danzo in astonishment.
He only thought about taking revenge on the Uchiha clan and beating Funan, but this boy wanted to exterminate his entire clan, and he wouldn't even spare Torifu.
Hiruzen took a deep breath and said firmly: "Danzo, don't be extreme. What you say is unrealistic."
Hiruzen closed his eyes and began to think carefully. After careful thought, a plan emerged in Hiruzen's mind. He immediately told Danzo.
"That's it?" Danzo said angrily: "We lost another 300 shinobi this time, especially those who died on your side. You know that all of them were elites. Aren't there many such shinobi in our four clans?"
"...Are you blaming me?"
Danzo: "..."
"Hmph!" Hiruzen snorted and said: "Just follow my plan!"
It must be said that since the battle with Rasa and Pakura, Hiruzen felt that he seemed to be a lot younger, and his momentum became stronger.
"By the way..." Hiruzen asked: "What exactly happened here? Why did you think you were under attack? Why did you send out a distress signal?"
Danzo's expression darkened and he snorted angrily. "Those bastards from Suna, they created a large number of clones and attacked us with them."
Hiruzen's eyebrows jumped wildly. He looked at Danzo suspiciously and said: "If you knew they were clones, didn't you think about fighting back?"
Danzo was silent for a moment, and said lightly: "How could I in that situation?"
"Forget it!" Hiruzen sighed. There was no point in talking any further.
…
The Third Hokage of Konoha had been ambushed by the Fourth Kazekage of Suna.
The enemy had gathered many missing-nin and, together with Suna's heroine Pakura, attempted to kill Hiruzen.
Although Hiruzen eventually defeated them, Konoha demanded an explanation from Suna.
Attacking a village leader during peace talks, even if he was a former leader, was still a huge provocation, an act of war.
Suna protested strongly, saying: "If what Konoha says is true, how could Sarutobi Hiruzen have survived?"
"Sarutobi Hiruzen is already over 60 years old!"
Suna's message was clear.
How could an elderly Hiruzen defeat the young Fourth Kazekage, especially with Pakura at his side?
This point was recognized by many people.
The Sunagakure ambassador even sneered: "Sarutobi Hiruzen is known as the God of Shinobi and a master of ninjutsu, has he actually ever fought? Sorry, I've never seen it, I don't know where that title comes from."
This sentence embarrassed the people of Konoha.
Hiruzen was so angry that his face turned blue on the spot.
Torifu slammed the table loudly. Although he also seemed very angry, he actually felt very happy.
"Go and tell Sunagakure that if they don't give us an explanation, Konoha will declare war on them." Torifu said in a cold and determined voice. "Don't think that Kumogakure and Iwagakure can save them. If they anger my Konoha, I will fight them even if the three join forces!"
The Konoha jonin who delivered the message was slightly startled. It had been a long time since he had heard such harsh words.
The Jonin became excited and immediately went to deliver the message.
"Torifu..." Hiruzen looked at Torifu with gratitude.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, so domineering!" Funan commented, clicking his tongue. "But if we really are going to fight against three villages, don't count on me. The Uchiha clan will not participate."
Torifu almost choked to death.
"Funan, what nonsense are you talking about?" Torifu looked at Funan's clone with displeasure.
Due to the importance of the meeting, they could not do without the presence of the Uchiha clan, so they sent an urgent message to the battle front, and Funan sent a clone.
Funan yawned and said: "I'm not talking nonsense. Sarutobi Hiruzen said that Sunagakure ambushed him. Sunagakure says it's not true. Who knows who's telling the truth? Everyone knows about my relationship with Pakura. Sarutobi Hiruzen, you're not thinking of attacking me, are you?"
His eyes fixed on Hiruzen with barely concealed killing intent.
After becoming the Eternal Mangekyo, did Funan still need to worry about Sarutobi Hiruzen's desperate reaction?
Hiruzen gritted his teeth silently. He wanted to use Pakura to attack Funan, but after Funan's words, he would have to change his strategy.
"Since you say it like that, I will speak directly." Hiruzen said, staring coldly at Funan. "Uchiha Funan, have you allied yourself with Sunagakure to plot against me? Pakura's position in Sunagakure is known. Although he opposes Rasa, she is the most likely person to convince him."
"Hahahaha!" Funan couldn't help laughing out loud. "Sarutobi Hiruzen, are you crazy? You can say such a thing?" Funan looked disdainful and said: "Why don't you say that Raza is my subordinate and has already kneeled before me?"
"I'm not kidding!" Hiruzen stared at Funan coldly and said: "This matter itself reveals something strange. If you intervene, everything will make sense."
Hiruzen's eyes were fixed on Funan, clearly convinced of his guilt. Torifu frowned, looking at Funan suspiciously.
On the other hand, Shikaku had a calm expression and did not even look at Funan.
"You are quite good at talking nonsense!" Funan sneered, saying: "You can blame me for your carelessness, which has cost the lives of hundreds of Konoha shinobi. Don't pretend with me, do you think I'm easy to fool or are you already used to it?"
"Enough!" Torifu interrupted coldly. "Both of you are making assumptions without proof. Why argue? We should focus on the matter of Sunagakure now."
"Funan, don't tell me you won't participate. You're a Konoha shinobi and the Uchiha clan is part of Konoha."
Funan spread his hands and said: "Acting Hokage, the matter of Sunagakure? What matter? You need to prove that Sunagakure is involved in this first. Is there proof? Sunagakure doesn't even acknowledge it. Are you really planning to attack Sunagakure without proof? That would put Konoha in a morally disadvantageous position."
Torifu frowned deeply. In this plan, Sunagakure had used only missing-nin. The only ones who had participated were Pakura and Rasa, and they left no evidence behind.
Rasa had returned after the battle and collected all of his gold dust. Although the marks of the battle were there, that was not enough for Sunagakure to admit their involvement. Torifu looked at Hiruzen in dissatisfaction.
As a former Hokage, how can you not keep evidence?
"Did you find anything on the bodies of those shinobi?"
"Nothing at all." Shikaku sighed and said: "Clearly, the enemy had been preparing this for a long time. Not even the Yamanaka clan members discovered anything."
Danzo and Hiruzen looked gloomy.
Funan laughed. "How can we prove that Sarutobi Hiruzen is right if we didn't find anything? I don't want to destroy the peace between the two villages."
"How many people will die if we start a war? Torifu-sama, do you know? Third Hokage-sama, do you know? Oh, by the way, I forgot, you don't know, because you never go to the battlefield."
"Uchiha Funan!"
"What's wrong?" Looking at the furious Hiruzen, Funan said in surprise: "I just repeated the words of the Sunagakure emissary, and you already got angry. No wonder people say that you are only strong against your own people."
"What did you say?!"
"Enough!" Torifu looked impatient and glared at Funan fiercely.
"Funan..." Torifu said seriously. "What's the situation in Kumogakure? Jiraiya, why aren't you talking? What's going on your side?"
Jiraiya said briefly: "Still in confrontation!"
Funan spread his hands and said: "The same here."
Torifu pondered for a moment and said: "Negotiate with Kumogakure and Iwagakure as soon as possible, then we will face Sunagakure."
"Yes!" Funan responded very straightforwardly.
Unexpectedly, Hiruzen glanced at Funan and didn't say much.
This made Torifu alert.
After making a series of arrangements, Torifu let them leave first.
"Shikaku, why do I feel that this matter is related to Funan?" Torifu looked at Shikaku doubtfully.
"Uncle Torifu, you can rest assured." Shikaku said calmly. "This is Funan's work."
Torifu jumped to his feet. "He's allied with Sunagakure?"
"Yes!" Shikaku smiled bitterly. "This is extremely bad news."
Torifu paced back and forth. "So, Uchiha Funan will definitely not allow Konoha to attack Sunagakure."
"Definitely not!" Shikaku's response was blunt.
"Damn it!" Torifu smiled bitterly and said: "Shikaku, I don't want to be the acting Hokage anymore."
This time, Shikaku didn't insist like before, but chose to remain silent.
…
After dissolving his clone, Funan sat at the front line headquarters in silent meditation.
Hiruzen and Danzo were very strange.
But that wasn't surprising. He had pushed them both to this point, it would be strange if they didn't try to do something.
"It's about time." Funan opened his eyes and began to write a secret letter that he sent to Torifu.
This time, Funan decided to play it big. And of course, he decided to settle everything at once. Hiruzen and Danzo had been jumping in front of him for far too long. Since he was so strong now, there was no need to continue allowing them to act recklessly.
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